WHAT'S DOING IN; Houston

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.

In some part of Houston's soul, the oil boom will surely live forever. Even today, the city's tourism literature gushes about the 1970's: ''Multimillion-dollar corporations were invented on paper napkins in fast-food restaurants (Compaq Computer for one) and real estate prices tripled.''

Today, having been through the famous bust, and now booming once again on a broader foundation that includes high tech and health care as well as energy, the nation's fourth-largest city is a more mature and in many ways a much more diverse and interesting place.

The city is home to superior museums and ballet, opera, symphony and theater companies, and its music scene is thriving, with Tejano, blues, zydeco, salsa and country music clubs. Restaurants serve everything from Texas barbecue to Mexican, Indian and Asian food inspired by its large ethnic communities.

Its staid downtown is even getting a new jolt: late last year the $23 million Bayou Place opened in the theater district, a few blocks from City Hall, with restaurants, clubs and an eight-screen movie theater.

The weather tends to be at its best in March and April, and in the fall; summer can be simply scorching and humid. For information: Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, 801 Congress Avenue, Houston, Tex. 77002; (800) 365-7575.

Sightseeing

Houston's reputation for freeway sprawl is not undeserved; on the other hand, many parts are quite green and reward exploration on foot. Among these are the Museum District, and the adjacent Hermann Park and Rice University campus. Nearby, North and South Boulevards, lined with old mansions and canopied by live oaks, have been described as two of the prettiest residential streets in America.

The three-mile loop in Memorial Park is packed with joggers -- President Bush occasionally among them. At the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, 4501 Woodway, (713) 681-8433, hiking trails provide a glimpse of the forests that once covered much of this part of Texas.

About 25 miles south of downtown, just off Interstate 45, is Space Center Houston, 1601 NASA Road One, a 183,000-square-foot extravaganza devoted to the history and mystery of space travel. It's not uncommon to spot distinguished-looking senior citizens just itching to take over the mock controls of the Space Shuttle from their grandchildren. A range of interactive exhibits includes Mission Status Center, which allows visitors to listen to communications between mission controllers and Shuttle astronauts. You can also touch a Moon rock. Open weekdays 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., weekends 10 A.M. to 7 P.M. Admission is $12.95, $11.95 over 65, and $8.95 ages 4 to 11; (281) 244-2100.

For quiet contemplation, many people visit the Menil Collection's Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon Street, (713) 524-9839, home to 14 Mark Rothko paintings. Hours are 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. daily. A block away, the Byzantine Fresco Chapel, also run by the Menil Foundation, 4011 Yupon, (713) 521-3990, includes 13th-century Byzantine frescoes from a small church on Cyprus; the story of how the cut-up frescoes were ransomed and restored by the foundation's patron, Dominique de Menil, is on an information sheet. Open 11 A.M. to 6 P.M., Wednesday to Sunday.

Houston's cultural scene also has its zany side. One of the strangest and most enduring attractions here is the Orange Show, a folk-art shrine built by Jeff McKissack out of wheels, tiles, scrap and bric-a-brac. It is at 2401 Munger Street, near the Telephone Road exit off Interstate 45, south of downtown. Open Saturday and Sunday only, noon to 5 P.M., March 14 to Dec. 6. Admission $1, under 12 free; (713) 926-6368.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science, 1 Hermann Circle Drive, (713) 639-4629, includes the Cockrell Butterfly Center, where a visitor can expect to be visited on the head, shoulder, arms and legs by hundreds of butterflies representing up to 80 species. Open Monday to Saturday 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., Sunday 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $4, $2 ages 3 to 11. The butterfly center ($3.50, $2.50 children), IMAX theater and planetarium all charge extra.

Events

Through May 17, three of Houston's leading art museums are teaming up to present ''Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective,'' with nearly 400 works spanning Rauschenberg's 50-year career. Works mainly from the 1940's through the mid-1980's are at the Menil Collection. The Contemporary Arts Museum has examples of his art and technology series and performances; the Museum of Fine Arts has his most recent work.

The Menil Collection, 1515 Sul Ross, (713) 525-9400, is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 7 P.M. (the permanent collection ranges from antiquities and medieval art to paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Magritte and Rothko).

The Museum of Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet Street, (713) 639-7300, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., Thursday until 9 P.M., Sunday 12:15 to 6 P.M., closed Monday. Through April 12: ''The Body of Christ in the Art of Europe and New Spain, 1150-1800,'' with 75 works, by artists including Bellini, Botticelli, Rubens and Tintoretto.

The Contemporary Arts Museum, at 5216 Montrose Boulevard, (713) 284-8250, has the same hours as the Museum of Fine Arts except Sunday, when it is open from noon to 5 P.M.

The music of the Rolling Stones is featured in ''Rooster,'' part of the Houston Ballet's mixed repertory program on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 P.M. and Sunday at 2 P.M.. On March 12, 14, 20, 21 at 7:30 P.M. and March 15, 21 and 22 at 2 P.M., the company will present the world premiere of a new production of ''The Snow Maiden,'' with music by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Ben Stevenson, the artistic director. The Bolshoi ballerina Nina Ananiashvili will dance the title role. Tickets: $10 to $80. Call (800) 828-2787.

Mark Adamo's version of ''Little Women,'' Louisa May Alcott's classic, will have its world premiere by the Houston Grand Opera on March 13 at 8 P.M. and March 15 at 2:30 P.M. at the Wortham Center's Cullen Theater, 550 Prairie Street. ''Arabella,'' a comedy by Richard Strauss, featuring the soprano Renee Fleming, will be performed seven times April 17 to May 3. Tickets: $25 to $175. Call (800) 828-2787.

Beethoven is quite popular at the Houston Symphony, Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana Avenue, (800) 828-2787. His Second Symphony is on the program March 21 to 23, as is Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, with Eldar Nebolsin of Uzbekistan as soloist. Beethoven's Seventh will be performed March 28 to 30; his Fourth Symphony April 26. A series of pops concerts April 3 to 5 stars Joel Grey. Tickets: $12 to $59.

Through March 29, at the Alley Theater, 615 Texas Avenue, recipient of a Tony Award in 1996 for outstanding regional theater, Ellen Burstyn and David Selby will star in Eugene O'Neill's ''Long Day's Journey Into Night.'' The American premiere of ''Hydriotaphia, or the Death of Dr. Browne,'' by Tony Kushner, will run March 27 through April 25. Tickets range from $31 to $46; (713) 228-8421.

The Ensemble Theater, 3535 Main Street, is a showcase for African-American drama. ''Buses,'' about Rosa Parks and Mary Ellen Pleasant, two women ejected from public transportation, will be presented from March 26 to April 26. Information: (713) 520-0055.

More than 75 exhibitions scattered around the city make up Fotofest 98, through March 31. The biennial festival was begun in 1984 to create an international forum for photographic art and ideas. For a schedule and maps, call (713) 529-9140 or go to www.fotofest.org on the Internet.

Where to Stay

The 308-room Wyndham Warwick, 5791 Main Street, (713) 526-1991, fax (713) 639-4545, is in the heart of the museum district. Doubles are $159 on weekdays, $99 on weekends.

Budget: La Quinta (800) 531-5900) has 17 hotels in Houston, all with newly refurbished rooms and rates averaging $65. The one at 8017 Katy Freeway (I-10 West), (713) 688-8941, is within easy distance of the Galleria by car. Its rooms are standard motel style with light colors. Doubles: $77 weekdays, $67 weekends.

Where to Eat

With dishes like wild boar enchiladas and a salmon filet cooked ''campfire style'' and served on a salad of jicama, cucumbers, and pears with a chipotle vinaigrette, Sierra, 4704 Montrose Boulevard, (713) 942-7757, offers food that is adventurous, playful and delicious. Many dishes have a nouveau-Lone Star theme -- like the lime jalapeno pasta with grilled Gulf Coast shrimp. The setting is quiet, with tasteful Southwestern decor. Dinner for two, with wine, about $80.

Outdoor dining is problematic in Houston -- too hot, too humid. But at the recently renovated Backstreet Cafe, 1103 South Shepherd Drive, (713) 521-2239, a tree-shaded patio is a delightful scene for brunch, lunch or dinner. The menu is excellent and reasonably priced. Try the jalapeno fettuccine or the lobster sandwich on toasted brioche, with bacon, tomato, arugula, spicy onion rings and red pepper remoulade. Dinner for two with wine: $60.

Set in an old Gothic-style church, with tables in the choir loft, Mark's, 1658 Westheimer Street near Dunlavy, (713) 523-3800, is a star among Houston's new restaurants. Among the signature dishes are pumpkin-seed-dusted red snapper with cumin, sauteed spinach and a tequila lime sauce, and pork tenderloin glazed with Kentucky bourbon and served with glazed yams. Ample wine list. Dinner for two with wine: $125.

For beef -- and atmosphere -- with South American flair, try Churrascos. The eight-ounce beef tenderloin, basted with chimichurri and char-grilled, is $24. At 2055 Westheimer, (713) 527-8300, and 9705 Westheimer, (713) 952-1988. The coconut ice cream is homemade.

For classic, inexpensive Mexican food in a city that abounds with such restaurants, there is Spanish Flowers, 4701 North Main, (713) 869-1706. The chicken mole, with rice and beans, is $6.95. Entrees come with vegetable soup, fresh fruit and fresh, warm tortillas from a machine that kids love to watch in action. Open around the clock, except from Tuesday 10 P.M. to Wednesday 10 A.M.